In my opinion, Mt. Tam has the best trails in the Bay Area. Each side of the mountain has its share of good qualities and the summit affords the best views of the area that I have seen, aside from the view out of the window of a 737 leaving Oakland Airport.

This route was difficult enough when keeping pace with the triathlon team. Great route to offer as many diverse views of the region as possible - sweeping vistas, immersion in redwood trees. Descent on Hogback is steep and can work the joints.

Clear day, GREAT view of Bay Area. Beauty is most certainly in the eye of the beholder; I suppose if one hoped to escape urban development and gentrification (as imposing and terrible as it is, I acknowledge), one would hit up Diablo or Yosemite. Solitude is best found elsewhere.

Started from Mountain Home Inn in late afternoon, up to the Railroad Grade to the Fern Creek Trail. Very nice and scenic trail. Reached the summit of the east peak just after sunset. Absolutely incredible view, but very cold and windy at the top.

Made a nice loop from Stinson Beach to the East Peak summit via Dipsea/Matt Davis/Temelpa trails. Returned to Stinson via Fern Creek/Rock Ridge/Steep Ravine trails. Great weather with a total of ~16.5 miles made for a fantastic day, topped off by some serious grub at Moylan's!

Along with Mt. Diablo, Mt.Tam is a great place to work in some really long day hikes of varying difficulty for training purposes. The view from the top is great. Always windy and about 20 degrees cooler than the parking lot at the base of the summit, so be prepared. Best in Fall and Spring. Summer can be VERY COLD and Foggy, and Winter is most often just to wet with gummy trails that are often closed due to water damage.

Started at Mountain Home Inn and then up the Fern Creek Trail. I counted 6 other county high points from the summit. Afterwards went and watched my alma mater (Cal Maritime) lose a heart breaker to Menlo College

This route was difficult enough when keeping pace with the triathlon team. Great route to offer as many diverse views of the region as possible - sweeping vistas, immersion in redwood trees. Descent on Hogback is steep and can work the joints.

Clear day, GREAT view of Bay Area. Beauty is most certainly in the eye of the beholder.